Media organisations in the United Kingdom have been focused on Edinburgh this week following the disappearance of three-year-old Mikaeel Kular. With the discovery of a body today Wikinews has found evidence suggesting media has been caught out by Scottishcontempt of court law.

BBC coverage of the matter, censored by our correspondent who is in Scotland. The censored areas identify the detained person and include an image of them.Image: BBC.

The BBC College of Journalism notes the differences. "...dock identification is a more important part of court procedure [in Scotland] and therefore pictures of the accused cannot be published until the trial is over. Scottish judges consider it contempt to publish pictures of the accused." Despite this, many sources, including the BBC, have named a person detained by police and published their photograph. The BBC did this online, in addition to naming the detained individual on Radio 4.

Our correspondent is based in Scotland and has been advised by a lawyer not to identify anybody detained until they have appeared in court, even if they have been arrested and charged. The Contempt of Court Act 1981 is designed to prevent prejudicial material going in front of juries before trial. Although UK-wide legislation, the law is interpreted differently north of the border than in England and Wales.

The BBC College of Journalism advises Scottish legal advice be sought before publishing images of the accused. Channel 4's Producer's Handbook notes "the law has tended to be interpreted more strictly in Scotland" but does not advise on how so. Images of arrested persons in high-profile cases are often published in cases south of the border.

Channel 4 is also amongst organisations to have named the detained person and put an image of them online. Police announced last night that a body believed to be the missing child had been found in Fife and that an individual had been detained. The boy had been missing since Thursday morning although there was a possible sighting of him then. Hundreds of volunteers have assisted police searching the Scottish capital for the boy.

Wikinews has also found the following organisations publishing material that may prove problematic as the case becomes a major media story.

The Guardian featured this box on their homepage today, naming the detained person. Image: The Guardian.

Sky News named the person in question and published a photo both online and on national TV

The Daily Mail have placed the story prominently on their homepage, with the material behind the boxes including a photograph, a descriptive link to a profile, and the name of the detained person.Image: The Daily Mail.

Some Scottish publications have also been publishing similar material.

The Scotsman published an article and video identifying the person on their website

The Herald noted police would not identify the person but nonetheless placed their name and a photograph online

The articles rank amongst the most-read items on many of the news websites. Unlike in England and Wales, where only the Attorney General can prosecute contempt of this sort, in Scotland the media organisations can be charged by an accused person. Wikinewsies in Scotland have noted remarks made about the named person's alleged wrongdoing on public transport and Facebook, suggesting widespread knowledge of their identity.

Several of the organisations involved are no stranger to being prosecuted for contempt over cases in neighbouring England. In 2011 The Sun and The Daily Mail were successfully prosecuted for contempt by Attorney GeneralDominic Grieve after they published a photo of a murder defendant posing with a gun. The case did not involve firearms and Grieve spoke of "seriously impeded or prejudiced" proceedings if any jurors saw the photos. The trial was not stopped as the photo was removed from circulation before the jury saw it and the defendant was found guilty.

In 2011 The Sun and Mirror were fined for reporting negatively about an arrested suspect in the high-profile Jo Yeates murder investigation. Chris Jeffries, landlord of the victim, was subsequently released from police custody and proved to be entirely innocent. Jeffries also pursued libel action against a number of publications. Politicians subsequently considered a law banning the naming of arrested persons who have not been charged throughout the UK as a direct result of this case.

The Daily Mail and Mirror were back in court the next year for their coverage of a trial involving serial killer Levi Bellfield. The two papers were again fined after Dominic Grieve told the High Court in London of an "avalanche" of "seriously prejudicial" stories. The papers published their stories after Bellfield was convicted of abducting and murdering schoolgirl Milly Dowler. The trial was not yet over, however, as the jury was still considering an additional charge relating to another alleged attempted abduction. That charge was dropped because of news coverage.

Wikinews is awaiting comment from several prominent Scottish professors of law on the issues raised by this article.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.

Articles presented on Wikinews reflect the specific time at which they were written and published, and do not attempt to encompass events or knowledge which occur or become known after their publication.